VILNIUS - The Russian Su-27 fighter crash and the investigation that followed has damaged the prestige of NATO and the Armed Forces in Lithuania, a Delfi portal survey reported. According to the Delfi poll, which was conducted by the company Spinter Tyrimai, as many as 60 percent of those surveyed said they had less confidence in NATO than before the incident, while 36.6 percent said their confidence remained unchanged, and 0.6 percent said their trust had increased.
Confidence in Lithuania's Armed Forces has suffered a decline as well. Forty 40 percent of those polled said they trusted the forces less today. However, the majority 's 51 percent 's of the country's population say they are just as confident in the country's Armed Forces as before.
The public's anxiety comes despite investigators' assurance that the crash was an unfortunate accident, not a planned recon mission.
An official investigation into the incident concluded on Oct. 4 that the armed jet's entry was unauthorized, and that the crash was caused by "technical, organizational and human actions."
When asked whether larger investments into new facilities would increase airspace security, people's opinions were split nearly in half: 47 percent believe that such investments would help, while 45 percent think the contrary.
